Black Dragons

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1942 film by William Nigh

title: "Black Dragons" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1942-films", "1940s-spy-films", "american-black-and-white-films", "1940s-english-language-films", "american-mad-scientist-films", "american-spy-films", "american-world-war-ii-propaganda-films", "1942-science-fiction-films", "films-directed-by-william-nigh", "monogram-pictures-films", "english-language-science-fiction-films", "films-produced-by-sam-katzman", "english-language-war-films"] description: "1942 film by William Nigh" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Dragons" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1942 film by William Nigh ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox film"]

Field	Value
name	Black Dragons
image	Blackdragons.jpg
caption	Promotional lobby card
director	William Nigh
producer	Jack Dietz
Sam Katzman
associate
Barney A. Sarecky
writer	Robert Kehoe
Harvey Gates
starring	Bela Lugosi
Joan Barclay
George Pembroke
music	Johnny Lange
Lew Porter
Heinz Roemheld
cinematography	Arthur Reed
editing	Carl Pierson
studio	Banner Pictures Corporation
distributor	Monogram Pictures Corporation
released
runtime	64 min.
country	United States
language	English
::

Black Dragons is a 1942 American film directed by William Nigh and starring Bela Lugosi, Joan Barclay, and George Pembroke. The cast includes Clayton Moore, who plays a handsome detective. The Black Dragon Society also appears in Let's Get Tough! a 1942 East Side Kids film made by the same team of writer Harvey Gates and producer Sam Katzman.

Plot

It is prior to the American entry into World War II, and Japan's fiendish Black Dragon Society is hatching an evil plot with the Nazis. They instruct a brilliant scientist, Dr. Melcher, to travel to Japan on a secret mission. There he operates on six Japanese conspirators, transforming them to resemble six American leaders. The actual leaders are murdered and replaced with their likenesses. Dr. Melcher is condemned to a lifetime of imprisonment so the secret may die with him.

Cast

Bela Lugosi as Dr. Melcher aka Monsieur Colomb / Cell Prisoner
Joan Barclay as Alice Saunders
George Pembroke as Dr. Bill Saunders
Clayton Moore as Dick Martin
Robert Frazer as Amos Hanlin
Edward Peil, Sr. as Philip Wallace (credited as Edward Piel Sr.)
Robert Fiske as Ryder
Irving Mitchell as John Van Dyke
Kenneth Harlan as FBI Chief Colton
Max Hoffman Jr. as Kearney
Frank Melton as FBI Agent
Joseph Eggenton as Stevens
I. Stanford Jolley as The Dragon (credited as Stanford Jolley)
Jack Cheatham as Policeman (uncredited)
Jack Chefe as Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Bernard Gorcey as The Cabbie (uncredited)
Jack Holmes as Industrialist (uncredited)
Ethelreda Leopold as Girl at Party (uncredited)
Carl M. Leviness as Industrialist (uncredited)

Production

The film was rushed into production following the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was to begin filming on 17 January 1942 but this was pushed back until 21 January. The original working title was The Yellow Menace.

Release

The film was released in Los Angeles on the double bill with the Australian film Pituri (also known as Uncivilised).

The Los Angeles Times said that "those who love their mystery and their Lugosi will find this film unusually sinister."

The film was colorized in the 1990s.

References

[https://books.google.com/books?id=Aueo3mOrIKIC&dq=black+dragons+lugosi&pg=PA123 Gary John Rhodes, ''Lugosi: His Life in Films, on Stage, and in the Hearts of Horror Lovers'' p 123]
(Mar 3, 1942). "'GOLD RUSH' CLEVER REVIVAL". Los Angeles Times.
(Feb 28, 1942). "Horror Film Stars Lugosi". Los Angeles Times.

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